Warranty

[Bunker]

Hi all

Thinking of getting a comprehensive warranty on the Z, being a DCT 35i I thought it prudent. At £613 PA do you think it's worth it? and any alternatives would be most grateful.

[john-e89]

Bank it Bunker, if you don’t need anything in 3 years that’s £1800 you’ve saved in case or put it towards a repair IF something happens. That’s just imo obviously as I’m more than happy to do spanner work myself but even so I’d still bank it. You will get others saying take the warranty, I guess there’s no right or wrong answer.

[step_change]

I agree, only you can decide if it's worth it in accordance with your financial circumstances,

I have the warranty and to me it is worth it. Very easy to get a £1000-2000 bill on one of these cars - very easy. Even more. ECU issue, DCT problem, suspension, serious roof problem etc could spit out a £big bill.

If you use the warranty it's the best thing you ever did. If you didn't, a waste of money. The truth is in the middle somewhere.

[-Tom-]

As above, total luck really. It depends if yours got built on a Friday or not, who knows

[Busterboo]

Hi all

Thinking of getting a comprehensive warranty on the Z, being a DCT 35i I thought it prudent. At £613 PA do you think it's worth it? and any alternatives would be most grateful.

£613 seems high. My 'BMW' warranty (by Aviva, I believe) is, with a £250 excess, less than £400.

And this is after they paid out well over £2,000 last year on adaptive suspension et cetera.

If you're going to keep your 35i, you know some expensive parts are very likely to bust, so a decent-priced comprehensive warranty is a no-brainer, really.

[gunners100]

They don't always pay out though, unless they have too!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/top ... &t=1802735

[djstan]

I was going to get a warranty last year, especially after my roof failed and I needed the loom replacing. When I read the fine print, I found that there were so many exclusions and get-out clauses, that I've decided to just bank the equivalent money in a separate account and pay for any repairs through that - it's guaranteed to pay for everything without an excess

[Cees Klumper]

It's more insurance than warranty. As such, it is designed to protect you from nasty situations that may not occur. The insurance company charges a cost for this protection and on average, consumers pay for that cost. So, overall, consumers are worse off however some are much better off, paid for by the others. To those like me who do their own repair work, the insurance makes much less sense since our losses are lower. Think of it as extra protection against calamities others don't have. Example: last year I had an airbag go bad in one of the seats in my Volvo. Dealer quote was around $2,500, lots of labor to replace it. With my trusted scanner I found the culprit and for $70 installed a good used example.
Another question is whether you can afford a major loss, or not really. The decision whether or not to get an extended warranty is actually an insurance decision.

[Bunker]

As per usual I have had great advice from you wonderful people, I am a spanner man but DCT is well beyond my capability. Still unsure, the insurance quoted was direct from BMW so should have no issues. However banking it also makes sense... the bloody gearbox scares me!

[step_change]

The BMW warranty is superb. I have had claims before on my other cars. No questions asked and £5000 bill "saved". It is not cheap, but neither is a 35is (or 35i). Mine is £50 per month. I can manage that. Others may not be able to and that's why you pays your money and you takes your choice. Could you afford a £2500 bill???? I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. Just laying out the options. The issue with the "self insured" method, merits though it has, is if you can be disciplined enough not to raid the insurance pot. And also, what if you get a huge repair in the first few months, when you only have a few hundred quid in the kitty?

The DCT gearbox is very reliable. I (and you) should be more concerned about the adaptive suspension and the roof. The suspension struts, part alone, are over £1000 per corner. Mine had one replaced by previous owner under the BMW warranty no questions asked.

Just sayin'.

[Lazza]

I bought my 35i from a main dealer so it came with the full bmw warranty. In the first year I had to have the rear boxes replaced (£1500) and the audio & control units replaced (another £1500). So I definitely got my money’s worth!
However, for year 2 I have decided not to bother. I think I’d take one for the first year as you don’t know at that point what you have bought but by year 2 you should have a better idea and can make the decision whether to continue with it or not.

[JamiesZ4]

This is my experience of BMW's comprehensive warranty:

Ok so issues under investigation were:

Tappety noise from engine on start up/when cold
Paddle shifts on steering wheel column not working
Whine from rear of car on deceleration, suspected differential failure
Roof not working, could not lower roof

Results:

software update and re-adaption for oil pressure system - no more tappety noise on start up - £203.00
gear paddle selector replaced - now working - £262.00 plus szl required for gearbox - £466.00
rear differential replaced - no more whine - £2500.00
roof hydraulic pump replaced - roof works - £1,761.00
16 hours labour charge @ £166.00 per hour = £2,656.00

Total = £7,848.00

Naturally I will be hanging onto my BMW warranty and a big thank you to Stephen James Ruxley for a smooth and hassle free claim and work carried out. Faultless Dealership.

[mcbutler]

YES YES YES, get warranty direct with the plus package, this covers items that fail or are failing through wear, not just items that actually fail.
Mine costs me around £700 PA for 23i with 90k on it and I get my money back every year.
Just had all the lifters replaced in my head, they paid out with no quibble (as usual) less £50 excess and 50% of parts (amount of part cost you pay depends on mileage but you never pay more than 50%).
Job was nearly £1500, WD paid £1200.
Last year was a new cam cover, DMF and all labour!
Add to all this, the premium stays the same even if you claim